German barter cruise will occur on the RV Pelagia

In September 2017, a German barter cruise will occur on the RV Pelagia from NIOZ. The purpose of the cruise is data acquisition at the sill of Denmark Strait and in the region of strong entrainment, which is south of Dohrn Bank. Denmark Strait Overflow Water (DSOW), which is monitored as it enters the North Atlantic through a long-term mooring program, contributes to the large-scale circulation and spreads into the whole Atlantic.

The dense gravity plume immediately downstream of Denmark Strait is associated with rapid water mass modification due to vigorous mixing and entrainment of ambient water. Using new observations on small spatial and temporal scales we aim to understand the pathways and processes by which kinetic energy is transferred from the mesoscale eddy field to dissipative turbulent scales within the DSOW plume. The entrainment of ambient water into the Denmark Strait Overflow has been found to be most effective within the first 200 km downstream of the Strait, where warm Atlantic Water and cold East Greenland shelf water are mixed into the plume. Our goals in the proposed cruise are (I) obtaining data in the region of intense mixing and (II) continuing the monitoring of the Denmark Strait Overflow transports at the sill of Denmark Strait. The scientists will use ship-borne measurements (CTD, ADCP) and short term moorings, as well as service existing moorings.

The cruise will be funded from and contribute to the German BMBF project “Regional Atlantic Circulation and global Change” (RACE II) and to SFB/Transregio181 “Energy transfers in Atmosphere and Ocean”, funded by the DFG.